At Young University, we have crazy beliefs.  We believe, that in the Digital Age, you can learn everything you need to know in 30 days.  We’ve developed a process (read: Organized a list) detailing how you can become an expert in any field in 30 days or less.  We call this our L.I.S.T. Process.

The L.I.S.T. Process is a simple, systematic way to find out as much information as you can about your market.  We teach this module during the Research phase of the business development process, and its goal is to give the E* an enormous amount of data to pull from when making decisions during the Planning Phase.  The L.I.S.T. Process contains the following sections: Libraries, Internet, Surveys/Interviews, and Trends.

Libraries

While this may seem nostalgic with the release of portable readers like the Kindle, and the reach of sites like Amazon.com, libraries still hold a valuable place in developing a business idea.  Two reason keep libraries ahead of the Internet on the research hierarchy.  First, it’s free.  Being an institution focused on bootstrapping, we follow free knowledge like a stalker.  Second, it takes more energy to write and publish a book, than it does to post a blog.  You can usually rely on the fact that the information you find in a book has at least been initially researched and has some data to back up its findings, not always, but most of the time.

“But everyone knows about the library”

You need to have a specific focus when you go through each level of the L.I.S.T. Process.  The library’s function is to give you a strong foundation of knowledge to help you with the following three steps.  Know the pioneers of your industry, have a general idea of who the major players are.  You should be capturing author’s names, and publishing company’s info from these books (try to find book published within the last 5 years, unless older is really necessary).  All of this data will be useful in the next few steps.

Internet

Ah, our old friend, the internet.  While larger and most convenient than most libraries, it requires more of effort to sift through data than the former.  Remember, this phase is only to gather data, no assumptions should be made from anything yet.  The reasons the internet is key here, if you didn’t already know, is because of its refresh rate.  The internet changes constantly and it is the best place to find up to date information on your industry.  You should focus on finding blogs related to your industry, social networking profiles of blog authors, and your library book authors, contact information for everyone in your industry, online publications and industry groups to join and gather more contacts, and on and on.  Remember, your goal is to have as much data as possible when you move on.  After this point, you can pretty much hold an intelligent conversation on your industry without sounding like an idiot, and you should have all of the general knowledge that can be reasonably found.  Now,  you move on the next step.

Surveys/Interviews

We cover Surveys in depth in our Customer Modules, so I’ll be brief here.  The purpose of a survey is to gather the secret thoughts of your customer.  Find out what they don’t blatantly post online, or write in a book.  Interviews work the same way, but they can be more powerful.  In your gathering, you should have run across some names of contacts in your industry, this is the time for you to contact these people and request some time to pick their brains.  Some will say yes, and some will say no.  It should make no difference to you, just get as many as possible.

Interview Double Whammy

Interviews are an amazing thing, and they serve you two purposes.  First, they allow you to network with some of the superstars of your industry instantly giving some credibility to what you are doing by association.  It allows you to build a relationship and create an advisory panel of the most qualified advisors that you can find.  And if you position it correctly, it should be completely free.

The second purpose of an interview is genius.  Understand that these experts probably went to school for your industry, they have had successes, and probably some failures as well, but the key is that they have HAD them, and you have yet to.  You can completely avoid the pitfalls of hundreds of small businesses by just listening to people who have done what you’re going to do.  You can gain the knowledge of an MBA without the fluff, or paying 50K for the lesson.  I would recommend recording all of your interviews, and keeping them close, because you’ll need them as you start your business.

Trends

Think about the Digital Age for a second.  We have completely turned society over to technology, and technology doubles in capability every 18 months, that’s a fact.  Do you think it’s possible that some technologies are good ideas today, that may not be tomorrow?  Well if you answered yes, which you should have, you understand the power of understanding trends.  Think about typewriter manufacturers.  They had it made until the mid 80’s, and then their complete industry died.  Those who say the PC boom coming probably shifted to making keyboards and mice, while those who didn’t…well, you know.

Groups

Understanding trends is all about joining the right groups and having conversations.  Remember those groups and trade associations that you found online?  Well join them!  Do you think it’s possible that someone in California is doing things differently than the same business in Kansas?  Of course!  That’s the point!  You want to stay on the innovative curve of your industry, taking advantage of everything that you can to add value to your customers.  You can also create powerful partnerships by connecting with other industry professionals that may give you an opportunity to expand your business faster than you could on your own.

The L.I.S.T. Process is a systematic way to gather all of the data that you will need to make the really important decisions about your company in your business plan or S.O.S. Manual as we call it here.  Becoming a master of your market gives you a wealth of options for promotion and a fantastic amount of value to add to your customer base, whether you are a simple coffee shop, or a complex manufacturing corporation.  Even if your business is already open, you can add to your knowledge base by having new employees go through the process, or even going through yourself to gain new contacts and build new relationships

What do you think about the L.I.S.T. Process?  Can it really make you an expert in 30 days?  What are your experiences with it?  Let us know what you would add or take away from the process.

While reading an article on SearchEngineGuide.com, the author Jennifer Laycock made a point that resonated with me.  The article talked about bringing your personality into your social media strategy and I realized something:

Demonstrate your unique personality by communicating as a person and not as the company: Companies are faceless, people are not. Using social media to tie your business brand to a personality can go a long way toward making even the largest company feel small and approachable. Whether it’s answering questions on Twitter or sharing anecdotes or stories on your blog, letting some of your personality shine through goes a long way toward helping consumers feel connected to your brand.

After years of small businesses trying to look big, in today’s social media environment, large companies are killing themselves to try to look small.

How it Used to Be

It used to be that smaller companies would try tons of tricks to look like bigger.  Home based businesses would report their addresses as “suites” instead of “apartments” to look like a commercial address.  One man companies would use stock photos of professional-looking individuals to promote a, “big business” feel.  Solopreneurs would even buy a 1-800 number to forward to a cell phone, appropriately listed as an, “extension”.  The benefits of looking like a larger company were easy to spot:  People liked doing business with trusted businesses, and size = trust in smaller firms.

Then One Day…

One Day people decided that they didn’t like being on hold for 15 minutes, or pressing the #1 16 times to get to talk to someone in a huge call center.  Paypal was an early example, full websites sprung up giving tips and hints on how to finally get in touch with a human.  Companies begrudgingly released more access, but clearly had the upper hand.  Who was going to do anything about it?  Then came social media….

People got used to talking to people.  Connecting directly, and instantly.  Now, not only was it an inconvenience to deal with a huge beaurocracy, but you could tell everybody in an instant with a tweet, or a wall post.  Then you got the ability to monitor everything that was being said about you across the entire globe and have it delivered to your email.  Large companies could see how their products and services were performing in real time…and the result wasn’t pretty

The Switcheroo

The public had no qualms with shouting about bad customer service, and unfair prices, and their voice was heard loud and clear…since they couldn’t complain to the robotic voice on large companies’ 800-numbers, they would tell every friend and associate they had, which eventually could sink a brand.  Large companies got the hint, and went back to using people.  The funny thing is, now they’re trying to gain an advantage that small businesses have had all along.

Be a Person First

The fact that you are a single person or a small firm gives you the ability to speak to every customer with your voice, not the corporate manuals’, or the official press releases’ voice.  This gives you the perfect position to get the maximum ROI, and be the envy of large corporations all over.  The secret is this:

People love to talk about people, not companies.

Social media encourages the conversation, and you’re more likely to talk about a person, than a brand.  Encourage your customers to add you to their conversation; it can only help your company.  Let’s be real, you ARE your company, so anything that helps your brand, helps your company.  Stop trying to separate the two with “INC” labels and 800-numbers.  Be yourself, use the skill/personality that got you into business, and be a person.  This era is built for you to succeed, and hey, maybe you can even teach a big company how you do it.

I’ve heard of countless times in my sales jobs, and working with aspiring entrepreneurs that a third party put the kibosh on a purchase, or a business idea soon after the “eureka!” moment hit.  What you need to learn is the right way to DEAL with that first rejection, and create an effective way to channel that into something that you can take a tangible next step from, something other than, “Bury that idea deep into the ground”.  Here are the 5 steps for dealing with rejection from a loved one:

1. Realize it’s personal (or at least it could be)

People have tons of motives for shooting down an idea, they could be as simple as, they can’t see the vision, to something as deep as the fact that a new business may lower the amount of time that you spend together.  For this reason, prepare yourself when you present a business idea to a loved one.  How far you go depends on the person.  Some people will respond to as little as you asking for their full attention and turning off all distractions, and some may need a full meeting with a written plan to take you seriously.

Remember, people that see your flaws daily, and they see you in every phase of life, and if you’ve never started a business, then this will be a new phase for them.  It may take a while for them to feel comfortable with the new idea of you in a business owner role.  Some people rebel from anything new, or strongly dislike changes, so be aware before you share an idea that you’re passionate about.

1. Drain Their Brain (seriously, all the way)

When your loved one gives you negative feedback on your business idea, you need to immediately become best friends with the question, “Why?”  Asking to clarify the criticisms and expand on why they have their opinions will quickly let you know what the problem is, whether it’s the idea, or even their perception of you.

Make sure that you write down every critique that your loved one gives you.  They need to be addressed, maybe not at that specific time, but eventually they all need to be addressed.  For example, even something as harsh as, “You’re not smart enough to do this”, should be an opportunity for you to review the image you project to others.  “Is this something that will affect how others see you in a networking setting?”  “What can you do to change this impression?” All of these questions will get you prepared to be a business owner, even if they end up being frivolous claims.

1. Ask For Solutions (yep, this is cheating)

This is the number one way to deflect criticism, even if it’s criticism of you.  Asking your loved one to give you solutions to every problem they see in your business idea will save you tons of time looking for the answers, and it will immediately turn them from a foe to an ally.  You can immediately begin to brainstorm together on how you would fix certain problems in your plan, and diffuse and negative emotions coming from their critiques, or their impact on you.

Be especially mindful of anything that they cannot think of a solution for, this should be your first question to answer when you actually begin researching your business.

1. Be Coachable (take the punches, you need the practice)

Nobody likes criticism, and coming from a loved one, it tends to feel personal, whether that’s true or not, but even though it may suck to be told that your great idea may be trash, listen.  Not only will you be able to turn the tide of the conversation by openly accepting their opinion, but you’re preparing yourself for the number one way to keep customers for years, listening.

There will be plenty of times in your business career that you have to listen to a complaint, even some that you shouldn’t have to listen to, or you may not be the right person to listen at all; but no matter the situation, listening to the full complaint, and then responding to specific points, acknowledging the needs of the customer/loved one will quickly change the mood, and tone of all future communication.  Don’t be in a hurry to rebut criticisms, you may miss something that’s valid, and something that could save you tons of time and money in building a successful business.

1. Try Again (with someone you don’t know)

Unless your loved one is an expert in startups, or deals with building businesses regularly, there’s a good chance that their advice won’t be relevant on some levels.  I’ve gotten in the habit of asking complete strangers about business ideas before I ask loved ones.  In fact, I’ve started to identify a potential customer, and ask them about the business first.  This gives me not only a fresh opinion from someone who isn’t tied to me emotionally, but it also lets my specific customer tell me how to create a business that they would buy from.  You can’t get better research than that.

Point blank: getting rejected sucks.  But just like in life, how you respond to it is much more important that the fact that it happens to you.  As an instinct, going to a loved one for advice is a natural action; but being prepared for what’s said when you get there, is just good business.

I’d really like to thank the following people for helping me with this question live on Twitter:

@TheTINYJewelBox, @WriteinBK, @AreshaDot, @LaoWSmith, @ShieldsofTrell

And just in case you’re wondering, none of them rejected my question.  They were fantastic sounding boards, and I would suggest following them all if it makes sense to you.

What are some tips you have for dealing with rejection?  Have you ever had a loved one kill a dream you had?  Let me know in the comments below, I love to hear from you all.

Elijah R. Young

I started to think about the power of a system and the idea of beating a system that seemed impossible and my mind is always drawn to the story of the four minute mile.

For years, athletes, and even scientists thought that it would be impossible for someone to run a mile in four minutes.  The system against them was physics itself, and the limitations of the human body.  This is a stark contrast to today’s perception that the four minute mile is the bare minimum to qualifying as a respectable medium distance runner.

What changed?

The system of physics definitely did not change, so we have to assume that the system was not the real barrier to achievement.

The human body has advanced in it abilities, but still has the same composition and structure as it did when the feat was declared impossible.  It wouldn’t’ be unreasonable to say that the human body was always capable of such a feat.

What changed were the beliefs of the individuals.

Is it coincidence that before May 6, 1954 no human being in recorded history had ever run a mile in under four minutes, but since almost 1000 individuals have matched or beaten that mark?

This line of thinking brings me back to the question, what does it take to topple a system?

Did Barrister schedule a press conference declaring that he would break the mark?  No.  He simply shifted the consciousness of millions by simply beating the unbeatable.  Showing people that a system can be toppled by example, not by conversation, he was able to reshape the context that the four minute mile was placed in, and moved it from impossible, to attainable goal.  Through action, not distraction.

So for those who advocate against the four minute miles in all of our lives, whether it be a global system, or a personal demon.  To advance the cause of those who believe the stories of impossible, your journey is as clear as can be.  Simply do what some think are impossible, and through you, they will understand your cause.  Don’t rally, cry, kick and scream at the brick wall separating your charges from their opportunity, simply scale it yourself, and invite them to join you on the other side of achievement when you’ve crossed.

Quietly achieve.  It speaks louder than any words I can type ever could.

Elijah

It’s about the way businesses develop, I mean really develop.  This blog is about the way that businesses go from idea, to independent being.  Unfortunately for most, the business plan has much less to do with that process than previously believed.  Let me start from the beginning.

You have an idea.  It’s the best.  This idea will revolutionize whatever industry youre in.  More likely, this idea will free you from the shackles of whatever job you’re in right now.

What's the big idea? Oh, it's you.....

So you stroll down to the bank (that’s where they keep the money) and tell your nearest personal banker all about your idea with the excitement of a child on a winter holiday morning.

“Where’s your business plan?”

Now this can go one of two ways from here, either you don’t have a plan at all, in which the bank is completely right to tell you to go and do some more research.

But this blog isn’t about business plans

The problem with this scenario is the emphasis on creating a static plan, which is a single event; and going through the process of planning.  We’ve been lucky enough to start companies using a plan scrawled out on a white board then snapped on a digital camera and printed out.  I’ve also sat down and written “standard” business plans, and i’ve come to the same conclusion.

Both plans are as worthless as the paper they’re printed on.

From the time you have a business idea, to the time your doors open, your plan will have changed so many times that the document you spent so much time crafting is now primed for either the recycling bin, or paperweight status.

So why do we spend so much time on business plans?

I don’t know.  I don’t, things change.  My belief is that you need to be able to change at whatever speed your business gets new information at.  If your business changes daily, then your plan could, in theory change daily, if it’s hourly, then so be it.  Understand the real value in creating a business plan in the first place.

Get an initial idea of what you would do, if all of your assumptions are correct.

Did you get to the second half of the statement?  That’s what this blog is really about.  What new business owners fail to realize is that all they’re doing is making a list of things they would do if their intel is on the money.  Can you guess how often that works out?

Not too often.

I’ve been doing this for a few years now, and your assumptions will always be right sometimes, and wrong at others.  The key to success isn’t in writing a document outlining your plan of action in case all of these go as planned, the key is to recognize when you’ve assumed wrong quickly, and adjust quickly into a new strategy.

So why do we spend so much time writing business plans?

It looked like a good idea on paper...

That’s how you get the money.  So they say.  Most new entrepreneurs write business plans for cash, either a loan from a bank, or an investment from an Angel, or VC.  But unintentionally, these individuals are pushing a larger problem.

If you write a plan to get capital, your focus turns to the money.  You add things that should impress whoever gives the money.  Add things for stability, add things for favor.  Instead, your first business plan should be completely focused on creating a system that can run without you being involved in the technical aspect of running the business as soon as possible.  How fast can we prove that this works?  When we do that, how are we going to build training manuals to hire people to replace us so we can work as mangers?  After that, how are we going to systematize management decisions so that we can hire managers and take on executive roles?

Not too sexy huh?  Well welcome to the not so sexy part of business.  To be really good at it, you have to be an expert at “translating to toddler”.  Can you make your processes so simple that a child can understand what you do?  If so, you can hire, you can train, and you can grow.

Business plans focused on getting cash don’t do that.  They talk about forecasts, and executive summaries.  They make bankers smile.  They get you checks.

Unfortunately, that rarely works out…

The truth of the matter is, that as a pure startup company, you don’t really deserve a lump of cash.  You need to be focused on proving that your idea really works in the market.

Imagine that, prove you can do a job before you get paid…where have I heard of that before?

–ERY

I Keep On Fallin'...not at all like Alicia Keys though.

I fell out of my chair…twice.

Don’t laugh, (well laugh a little bit) I usually don’t fall.  I take pretty well to reckless balancing sports such as ice skating, roller skating, and driving during blizzards, so I am pretty familiar with the rules of falling.

If you’re gonna fall, get it over quick

I don’t know when I changed, but I did.  I started getting used to not falling.  I’d wobble, I’d shimmie, but I’d never drop to the ground.  Now I was a guy who saved the fall.  Captain Balance.  Until today.

I fell flat on my ass.

Twice.

After the second time, (isn’t it just like an entrepreneur to miss the message the first time?) I came up with a question.

How often in life do we hurt ourselves even more by trying to avoid the fall?

Avoid the temporary pain, avoid the embarrassment, avoid the shame of a fall but end up facing a lesson much larger than the one we could have learned by just hitting the ground and getting back up.

Eddie Murphy has a stand-up routine where he talks about his aunt falling down the stairs, and because she’s trying to stop the fall it takes much longer to get to the bottom of the stairs.  Check it out:

(Definitely NSFW for those anti-profanity offices)

Today I tried to stop the fall.  Avoid the embarrassment in the office.  Avoid the shame of a stretch gone too far in a rocking chair made of rubber bands.  Started to fall, tried to stop it, got it….nope.  I stopped the fall long enough for everyone to actually look up and notice what was going on.  Just enough time to get everyone’s attention for the skull crushing finale.

In business I teach that people should fail as fast as possible, not just because it gets you closer to the right answer, but because if you can fail fast enough and recover, nobody notices.

Maybe I need to take my own advice.  Maybe I need to take the advice of my third grade teacher:

Keep four on the Floor, Elijah!

From now on…Yes Ma’am.

–ERY